This is not cool.
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THis Is Not Cool
This entry was posted in Environment, GCD: Global climate disruption, News and politics and tagged AGW, climate change, climate disruption, climatology, environment. Bookmark the permalink.
recently reported that 2011 was the warmest year since recording began in the mid 1800s
NASA said (Jan 2012) that 2011 was the ninth-warmest year globally. Who says ‘warmest’?
I stand corrected and thanks for a reminder to NOT copy and spread misinformation and to also site my sources. I should know better.
As far back as records go (1895), never has the U.S. strung together 12 straight months warmer than May 2011 to April 2012 according to new data released today by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) .
The record-setting 12-month period edged out November 1999-October 2000, the 2nd warmest 12-month period, by 0.1°F. The average temperature was 2.8 degrees F above the 20th century average.
Washington Post 5/8/12
I hope you don’t feel too thoroughly chastised; I’m certain I’ve been as guilty myself, on occasion. Assumptions are dangerous things.
But, would I be correct in understanding that your ‘warmest 2011 ever’ relates to the US only? If so, isn’t that also dangerous ground? When I did a search for ‘warmest 2011′ I had to stop myself jumping on the BBC reporting that 2011 is UK’s second warmest year on record.
I feel that when the subject matter relates to a global crisis, it’s important to use sound bites that reflect the global situation — and not just because it serves as a reminder that we’re all in this together. I hate the feeling I get when my assumptions are questioned and I’m unable to remember the scope of my newsworthy factlets.
Um. How did I get here?
Ninth, or first, or whatever, we’re seeing the effects of greater planet warmth over the past few years. The effects can actually mean it gets cooler in some places as the jet streams get moved around by differences in pressure. It can be wetter or drier in many places, though in general wetter as long as we have oceans because the added energy pulls more water into the air, and glacial melting pushing oceans up expands the surface area for more evaporation area.
But we will see fluctuations as different systems store or release energy in different places. What is more important is the average over a few years (5 years on the NASA chart, but I’d suggest to look at a 16 year average).
Again Thank you. Point well taken.